“Beware the lollipop of mediocrity. Lick once and you suck for life.”
Sounds like something out of a bad fortune cookie, right? I read that proverb recently and it reminded me that as we go into the New Year with high expectations and plans to create positive change, looking for ways to be more resilient and open to new ideas in developing successes, maybe we should think about the lollipop of mediocrity.
Let me back track a second. There are those of us who get excited about new ideas and will jump headfirst into something (kind of like jumping into a pool on a summer’s day, and then checking to see if there’s any water in the pool). We tend to be the burst of energy that fades quickly because we don’t want to always take the time to implement our brilliant ideas. And then we get frustrated with those people who want to question our purpose, analyze our data, extrapolate more from what we said than we intended and then analyze the process until we forget why we got excited in the first place.
As we look at how to create quality in the New Year perhaps it includes a broader vision, an understanding of the importance to have both tolerance and respect for the “other” styles of people out there, those Judges, Detailers, Meteors and Rocks (the foundation for Omni-Linguistics, my program on speaking to anyone in their language) who think so differently than we do. But to create a high degree of quality and not slip into mediocrity just might mean using the talents and strengths of others who are very, very different.
It’s easy to get frustrated with the person who jumps and doesn’t have all her ducks in order (like water in the pool) before she launches into why something should be done. And if you’re like her it’s frustrating to hear all the reasons why something can’t work. Yet it’s equally annoying for someone to take your idea and start to run with it without consulting you, or passively sitting back and waiting for you to tell him what needs to be done (isn’t it obvious, you think).
The magnificence of our species is our unique (albeit frustrating) differences that keep us passionate, dedicated and much of the time confused about why someone else isn’t seeing the world through our lens. Yet our lens can’t necessarily yield the wonderful quality that comes when a variety of personality styles with very different thought patterns and talents come into alignment.
Is it ever easy? Definitely not. For me the lessons are always out there. I date someone who, when I ask how his day goes, will typically say “fine.” And when I ask if anything new or fun happened will probably say “no.” The Detailer has no reason to expound, yet someone like me who is used to responding to either of those questions with at least two paragraphs, may wonder what’s wrong with his day or why is he so reserved. Until we can truly understand someone’s language, how they PREFER to communicate, relax, rejuvenate, motivate, celebrate and handle business, then we’re blindly hoping others will play nicely with us. As we recognize and understand how to effectively reach someone without worrying about getting our needs met first (remember Stephen Covey saying listen first to understand, THEN be understood?) then we create the infrastructure for real team work and communication. And from that comes the true quality and value within a project, so we’ll never have to go down that path of mediocrity!
May your holidays be exactly as you want them to be this year
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